By Michelle Barrett, Freelance Writer
Sergeant Nadine Grant-Brown, above left and top right, winner of the 2002 LASCO Police Officer of the Year Award, gets a rose from her husband, Corporal Harry Brown. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
THERE WAS no doubt in Nadine Grant-Brown's mind that she wanted to be a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). Her decision was inspired by an address delivered by a policeman during career day at her school, Glengoffe Secondary School in St Catherine.
"He made the police force sound so interesting that I decided that I would love to work with an organisation such as this," said Sergeant Grant-Brown in a telephone interview last Tuesday, shortly after receiving the 2002 LASCO Police Officer of the Year Award.
In addition to winning a cash prize of $100,000 she also received a trophy and two plane tickets courtesy of Air Jamaica to any Caribbean destination. It was a pleasant surprise for the officer who celebrated her 34th birthday last Friday.
Sergeant Grant-Brown was among nine divisional winners, seven men and two women, in the running for this year's top award. She was the runner up in the 2001 competition, making her the only woman to get that far since the start of the competition in 2000.
After finishing secondary school in 1986, Sergeant Grant-Brown took the test to enter the Police Academy at Twickenham Park in Spanish Town, St Catherine. She also signed up for a three-year fashion designing course at Viviene's School of Fashion because she was also interested in a fashion career.
Well into her first year of fashion school, she received a call from the Police Academy telling her that she had passed the test and should report for training. The fashion designer-turned-policewoman said she deferred entry into the academy until she had completed the fashion designing course.
In 1990, Sergeant Grant-Brown entered the police training programme and graduated months later as a full fledged police officer, acquiring duties which involved foot patrol and the Family Court.
SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT
The subsequent 13 years in the force presented many challenges, said the Top Cop who has overcome them and has come into her own as a law enforcement officer. She is now attached to the Chaplaincy Unit in Westmoreland where she counsels her peers and victims of violent crimes.
As a member of this unit, Sergeant Grant-Brown said she sees fellow officers who come under a lot of stress on the job. "Part of my duty is to encourage the officers in my division, listen to their problems and offer them sound advice," she explained, adding that her services are mainly in demand when police personnel are involved in tragic circumstances.
"These are trying times for officers in the force and we need to remember that we are here to serve the citizens of this country in keeping with the mandate given to us. As for myself, I intend to serve the public until I am retired," stated the Sergeant.
